Media Freedom & Access to Information should be Constitutional Rights!

At a time when Zimbabweans are faced with a restrictive media environment and the ongoing constitutional reform process, this year World Press Freedom Day ran under the theme Media Freedom & Access to Information should be Constitutional Rights! This is the opportune time to call for provisions that guarantee media freedom and the right to access information. Media freedom is fundamentally inseparable from the universal rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and citizens’ right to access information. The Media plays a pivotal role by assisting the public to perform an effective watchdog role through exposure of misconduct within public and private sectors. An efficient media holds both public and private bodies accountable and helps fight corruption. For the good of the citizens, a free media will play a crucial role in ensuring participatory poverty reduction policy making. The reduction of poverty in different communities lies in a free media that prioritises public interest. Through a free media people can foster respect for human rights. This can include socio-economic rights such as the right to clean water, adequate housing and health care. These are some of the rights that the Zimbabwean government seems to take for granted. There is need for media that will be educating, informing and ensuring free flow of information and ideas without which citizens cannot make informed decisions necessary for obtaining democracy. The Global Political Agreement and the constitutional mandate of the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission guarantee media reforms and it is about time Zimbabweans saw the benefits of these freedoms. There should be as many community radio stations and community newspapers; the public media should be run by the public and its thrust should be determined by public interest.